Faerie Tales
by Starlite
Summary: Usagi and Mamoru are creatures on the Eastern Forest, and they find that they will soon be much more than that.
1. Default Chapter

A new story...and amazingly, its SM!!! Wow...hee hee....I'm in my own little Fushigi Yuugi world  
at this time, so don't mind me! I hope you like this newest invention, which I have been thinking about for   
quite some time. Sailor Moon does not belong to me, it belongs to Naoko Takeuchi, who did create this  
wonderful manga show from the start.   
  
A Faerie Tale  
by: LazuliMemoryStar@juno.com  
Prolouge  
  
Usagi sat up and brushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. How difficult it was, living in the woods  
alone! No clan nearby to help, to be there to make jokes when gathering the berries and green foods of the forest  
to store. How she wished she had some companionship. She watched other clans from afar, pairs of girls going  
off together, baskets in hand, silent as deer. Usagi wondered why she didn't have a clan. Why she woke up one day,  
far away from any civilizations of the Forest Folk, alone and utterly without memories of what happened to her in  
those previous days.  
She shook her head, wishing that she could join one of them on their searching expeditions, but she had  
seen what had happened to a stray intruder. She guessed that the lands that she was on had once belonged to her clan, and that's why they were untouched, and she was not harmed. Perhaps they believed her clan still lived on, and that to wander into unknown territory meant death. She wasn't sure, for her lands lay at the edge of the Forest Clan territory, and that meant humans...ordinary people could wander off their carefully cultivated paths into her territory and try to burn them or capture them as work of their devil. Usagi sniffed. As if she believed in such a creature! A creature for man, not for her kind, who lived by the forest and gave thanks to the wind and sun and sky gods, who provided her with life, and yet at the same time, taught her of the cruelties of it. She shuddered as she   
remembered so many times when she had wandered hungry, almost driven to go to another Clan for help, for food, but she held herself back everytime. While the intrustion on another Forest Clan's space meant certain, instant death in some places, the promise of life and sunshine, crisp breezes and the fresh, fresh earth meant so much more to her. She kept her hold on life with a grip as tight as anything.  
She heard a noise in the forest behind her, which could mean that she strayed too far into the human's lands, or that she had wandered into another Clan's village. She feverently prayed that neither had occured, and ran back to her home, with a speed like the wind.  
  
Once Usagi was back in her treetop home, she finally relaxed. She was in the heart of her own territory now, and nobody could catch her. She put away her supplies, and tried to calm her shaking nerves. She felt as if her senses were being strung a million different ways, which she tried hard to bring into order. She felt that something terrible would happen if she let those feelings reach out...she ruthlessly cut off her connection to everything at that point, leaving her shaking with fear inside herself, wondering what was happening to her. She didn't know if this was normal or not. She was never told of it. She finished putting away her gatherings, and went to her bedroom, falling into an uneasy sleep for the first time in decades.  
  
  
Mamoru cursed as he met with the same pattern of forestry for the fourth time that day. Was this forest or its inhabitants playing tricks on him? He sighed. How strange for the forest to forget its own. He knelt down in the rich earth, asking it to look through him and accept him again, trying to feel the old connections spring up anew. He should have already been connected...he was the next in line for the leadership of the clan, and the welfare of the Forest Clan of Slyphs, the Wind Runners, but it seemed that while he was gone, someone else took up the job. There were ties from the Earth and Wind leading back into the center of the Wind Runner Clan, and he started to follow those links, unconciously getting himself more intertwined with the new owners signature of being. He looked up at one point to see a small girl knee deep in the strawberries and onion grass, and he moved  
foward slowly, hoping that he wouldn't disturb her. She was...beautiful....He must have made some sort of sound, though, invisible to his long-forgotten memories, and she took off like a shot, almost vanishing with the wind. This must be the one who had the leadership of the Clan. He wondered how many people were left, now, and how many had died in that long-ago slaughtering of the Wind Runners.  
  
  
How is that for a prolouge, minna? I know it is awfully short, but it's an idea! Please, feedback, onegei??!!!  
  
Lazuli  
  
  
  



	2. chapter one

I'm back!! I never know what to say for this AN's..just the simple fact that I don't own Sailor Moon, ne? Look! Short AN's!!!!  
  
  
A Faerie Tale  
by:LazuliMemoryStar@juno.com  
Chapter One  
  
Mamoru rememberd that fateful day, so many decades ago when the Forest Slyph Clan had been attacked by the humans...children ripped from their homes, young girls raped by the humans who dared to slaughter their mothers and fathers in front of their eyes. He closed his eyes, trying to shut out the memories, but alas, they would never leave him.  
  
~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mamoru stared in terror as he felt the land tremble in warning, and the sharp whistling of the wind telling him, and others of his clan of the impending danger...the humans that were overstepping their borders, humans who were hungry to burn and destroy all that was not in their world, with their ways. Somehow their beliefs drove them off of their safe paths, into the timeless realm of the Forest Folk, into the very borders of the Forest Slyph Clan. He knew that they couldn't escape. The forest could rip itself apart trying to destroy the intruders, but it knew, too, that the fight would be futile aganist men with iron and fire, who saw themselves as angels of mercy to bring these heathen faerie breathen to the hands of God.   
Mamoru crept silently about, trying to escape the hands of this warriors, these tall men who had only hatred on their mind as the small scattering of homes were burned. The treetop dwellings were untouched. Man could not reach there...only those born to the Wind Clan could reach those sacred homes. He wondered if anybody would escape the destruction, and he sent a silent prayer to the Wind Goddess, before he was taken by the intruders that at least one of his Clan would remain unharmed in the Forest. That one would not be slaughtered, or taken to the world of Man to be forced into their ways of life.   
He himself was not spared--at least he was not killed like he saw his parents being killed. They had dragged him to his knees as he watched their lives being taken.   
"Look closely, little boy. This is the end of your life as a heathen! Thank God we saved you! Come now, no tears! These people were agents of the Devil, and we have saved you. We will take you to a good home." He knew to struggle now was futile. He vowed though, that one day he would make it back to the Forest world, back to his roots, back to his life.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~End Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mamoru opened his eyes, welcoming back the sweet scent of the Forest. He had lived in that horrible excuse for a home for several decades. He couldn't force himself to grow at the rate of these...humans...so he waited until he was about seventeen years in human counting, before he stole off into his own land, the home that called for him, day and night. He remembered when he first had arrived in the human lands, terrified of these human people, who thought he was nothing more than a boy of ten years. He almost laughed silly at that. Ten years! Barely out of the cradle, he would have been, at ten years!! Ah, he had forgotten how old he really was. Time in his land meant nothing. The turning of the seasons, one day always falling directly into the next, without a worry about keeping the time, struggling over time passing, for it would pass with or without their acknowledgement.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Boy! What is your name? Can you speak our tounge, boy?" A tall man was leaning over him, his face fierce with anger. Mamoru only snorted in contempt. "'Course I can speak your language, human. 'Tis simple to speak and understand." He said this with all the contempt that had been aimed toward him, as if *he* was the simpleton, and not they.   
The man's face darkened more with anger, but he held it in, trying to rein in his temper. "I see. Please, then, child, tell us your name." Mamoru sighed. He gave up trying to tell him that he was not a child, not by their age standards. "The name, good sir, is Mamoru." He said, and smiled at the outraged looks on their faces.   
"Mamoru?! What type of heathenish name is Mamoru? What does it mean?" The man with the red face leaned in close again, and Mamoru tried not to flinch at the iron that was worn around his neck. It would not harm him, it was just the thought of the white-hot iron could do to him, as he had heard about in tales.  
"Protector." The man with iron laughed. "We will let you keep your name, then..Mamoru. Just keep in mind that you are no longer one of *them*. You are now one of us, and you will obey our rules and pray to our God."  
Mamoru consented in words only, but his mind and soul were firmly made up to go back to his home, and there he would reclaim the land, and his home.  
  
~~~~~~end flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
Mamoru walked slowly through the Forest, trying to find that source of his clan again, the leader of the Slyph Clan, but it seemed that she had blocked off her ties at the moment, so that he could not follow her with those. There was one thing that he wondered at. There was a silver light tied to his own, intertwined delicately into the strands of his own life, and his ties to the Forest. Could it be that girl? He didn't wait to question his feelings, but fairly flew through the Forest, hoping to find the girl.  
  
  
Usagi woke up, wondering what was different in her room. It was like their was another presence there, calling out to her to come out, to see something. Almost aganist her will she climbed out of bed, to feel the fresh breeze on her flushed cheeks. She knew there was someone out there..tied to her...but how? She opened up that sense, opened it up fully, asking the wind to bring that one to her, to guide his feet toward her home, to have the wind bear him *how was she sure it was a he?* up to her side.  
She closed her eyes and flung herself out to the far reaches of her land, and was met with a presence that shocked her to her core. This presence, this person was part of her Clan, she was sure of it! She felt the tie to her, and to the Earth and the Wind of her clan. She almost cried with joy that she was regaining that lost part of her. Perhaps he could tell her what had happened. Why she was here alone, the only one left of her clan. She waited patiently for him to come.   
  
  
Mamoru walked slowly through the forest, the Wind tugging at his clothing, seeming to lead him to *her* that girl whose lifeforce was now with his own. He smiled, for the first times in ages, with real happiness. It was soon ended though, when he felt the point of a knife being held to the skin underneath his throat. He knew that it had to be one of the other Clans, and he wondered if it had been the attack on the Slyphs that had made them so hostile. He opened his mouth to explain, but it was not to happen, for soon the music of Sleep overtook him, and he fell helpless into the Dreamer Clan's arms.   
  
Usagi felt sleep beckoning to her, but she fought it off. She knew it had to do with him. That one...she shivered, and sent out her senses to bring him back, so that he would not be prey to the enemies hatred. She felt herself slipping over the edge of herself into him, then gave up the fight. She totally merged herself with this stranger at that point, feeling and seeing everything that was about to happen to him.  
  
  
Okay...do you all like this? *grin* Feedback is a girl's best friend, ya know!!   



	3. chapter two

Here I am again! I hope you all like this story. As you can see, the "faeries" aren't little people with wings. I want to thank all the people who have written to me, Patch, Anon, Ely-chan, and the rest of the people on the smrff list. You all are great, and I am so happy that you like this! Here is the next part, and just to let you know, I don't own Sailor Moon.  
  
A Faerie Tale  
(Chapter Two)  
by:LazuliMemoryStar@juno.com  
  
Mamoru blinked himself awake as he found himself, tied with long strands of grass, bound as tightly as the iron chains that humans used. He tried to recall what had happened, and then he remembered. What a homecoming! Trying to find the new leader of the Slyph Clan, and he got attacked by the Dreams Clan. Attacked him, and brought him to their hold.   
A warning brought by the Wind made him look up as a person walked in the room. She was dressed in the traditional flowing green robes of an elder of the Dreams clan. He wondered what was to be done with him. He knew that he looked suspicious. He was dressed in the clothing of the humans, and he was wandering through the old clan of the slaughtered Slyphs. He was surprised that he was not put to death right away.  
"What is your name, human, and what are you doing in our lands?" The elder said, in the human tounge. Mamoru sighed. He never wanted to hear that primative language again, and spoke in their langauage, the words of the wind and grass. "My name is Mamoru, of the Slyph Forest Clan." Mamoru waited for judgement on the words. He knew that this person must be confused....he spoke in the old tounge, spoke of lineage of a clan that had been taken away from this life into the next.  
"Why do you claim that heritage, Mamoru? Why do you use one of our names, and speak in our language? Did you not know that the entire Slyph Clan had been slaughtered decades ago?" Mamoru nodded, holding back the anger, and the terror of seeing an entire Clan taken, his parents killed before his eyes.   
"Of course I know that, Dream Elder! I was there! My parents were taken from this life, murdered before my eyes, while those....humans....took me away from my life here in the Forest, leaving the Slyphs as a dead clan! Did you think that I wanted that? Did you think that such an event can be blocked from the memory? The sting of that would carry on for several lifetimes, and passed down from generation to generation! I want to reclaim what is mine, that is all. To go back to the Forest, and live the ways I was brought up to be!"  
The elder looked surprised for a moment. "Perhaps you speak the truth. I already see that the Forest and the Wind, of your clan, has welcomed you back. I see that you have tied in with the Earth, young protector of it. I can escort you back to the Forest, of your Clan site, and I will let the Forest deal with you there. You will never be allowed in the treetop homes, unless the Wind bears you up there, and down again safely. I hope that you can survive, young Mamoru. For the Forest is much more wary than it was those generations ago. It will destroy an intruder to the Clans as swiftly as possible. Do not think to come in here, trying to steal anything of ours, for what is most precious to us, you will find worthless. I will arrange for you to be taken outside of our borders, and then you are no longer our problem. I bid you a good day, Mamoru of the Slyph Clan."  
  
Usagi was confused. The myriad images from Mamoru's mind were sharp and painful, the memories he had stored from the past still fresh in his mind, and she was picking up his fear and his hate of humans, the overwhelming lonliness of being the only one left, or so he thought, and seeing his life stripped away into a dreary exsistance, where there was no joy for him. Her heart gave a painful throb at this, and she wished that she could help him. At least it explained why she was Clanless, or almost so. Why there was noone around, why she woke up completly alone in the treetops, with only the Wind to comfort her. She kept herself with Mamoru, trying to offer what comfort she could through her emotions, and at the same time, drawing him back to her home, so that they might meet face to face.  
  
Mamoru made his way through the Forest silently, trying to find his home, the center of the Slyph Clan.  
He wanted so badly to go back, but those memories of burning, of homes being ransacked and ripped apart by  
the careless hands that slaughtered his parents. Where his parents had died...where graves were never put, where  
they never blended back into the Earth. Perhaps their spirits were saved, and were sent to the Wind, where they  
could be reborn. He prayed that it had been so, that they were not trapped in the endless circle of death, where   
their spirits could not find peace. He knew of a few that were like that. They became Guardian Spirits, though. There was one for the Slyphs, he knew. They were fearsome and protective of their land. They could only do so much though. Perhaps it was the Guardian who saved the one child to live on for the Clans, who spared his own life. It was cruel to save only a handful of lives where millions others were taken, but if it was the will of the Gods, then he knew he couldn't argue. He lifted his face to the fresh breeze that always seemed to linger in this part of the Forest, and reached for the direction of that girl....the one he saw picking the berries, the one he knew had her life force intertwined with his. He had to get to her! He knew that another Clan would not stop him now, he won a type of approval, and the Clans would respect that given approval. They knew the Forest would now   
reject what was not their own.   
  
Usagi knew that he was almost near, and she flung herself out of the tree, landing gently on the bottom. She had to get to him....it was important, she knew. They had to be together before..what? happened.....She ran on, heedless of anything that was in her path. She just knew one course. The one that lead straight to him. She could still feel him...feel his presence, his thoughts, his emotions. She knew he was coming toward her with the same mindless purpose that she was coming toward him. She reveled in the feeling of having someone so close to her. Someone who was connected to her, who could understand her emotions, the feelings of lonliness, being apart from what she knew. Being alone. She could almost see him now. See that dark black hair....see the midnight blue eyes that could see into her soul and beyond, judge her to the highest point in the stars, or the hardest punishment that a motal or god could devise. She knew she saw him, too. She felt his excitement, his joy at seeing her at last. They reached for eachother, and then the Earth seemed to open up and swallow them both........  
  
  
So, what did you think, minna? That was my measly attempt at a cliffhanger. I hope you liked this part, and I would LOVE some feedback!!!!  
  
ja ne  



	4. chapter three

  
Kon'wa! I am back, and hopefully you will all   
like this chapter. Short AN's--SM does not belong to me,  
I am just borrowing the characters for a bit.  
  
A Faerie Tale  
Chapter Three  
by: Lazuli  
MemoryStar@juno.com  
  
Usagi shook her head, dizzy. What had happened?  
The last thing she had remembered was reaching for Mamoru  
and then the Earth opening up. She looked around her, and  
almost screamed at what she saw. She had landed in a mass  
grave. Her hands flew up to her mouth, trying to contain  
her horror. How could this be? Was this what happened to  
her people, her family? She felt a few tears slip out, and  
she bowed her head, praying for the lost souls of her   
family. She thought they had all been burned. There must  
have been a few that had not been...there may not have  
been enough time...so they had lain here, dying, without  
a way out until their final end. It wasn't fair. She  
heard a sound behind her, and she whirled around, afraid  
that she was going to make contact with a spirit from the  
past.  
  
To her relief, it was Mamoru who stood there,  
one of her kind, one that cared about the land. One that  
would not burn her for her connection with the Earth and  
Wind, one that would not fill her with arrows for going  
across unmarked borders. She flew into his arms and felt  
him embrace her. She felt a tingling warmth wrap around  
her as she found something special in that place of death.  
  
Mamoru was seeing the past flash before his eyes  
as he opened them and saw the remains of his Clan. The  
bodies that had not been burned were laying around him, in a  
circle, as if they had made one last attempt to save  
themselves, or perhaps to save him and the mysterious  
girl who lay unconscious before him. He smiled softly, and  
walked forward a step, when all of a sudden she woke up and saw the death before her. He saw her body tense as she tried to contain  
the emotion that he clearly felt. She whirled around suddenly and looked at him, flying into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, glad to just be with her. Now to get out of here......  
  
Mamoru glanced up, and then around him, realizing  
that it would not be easy for them to escape. The Wind  
would not come so far down here. There was no air but as   
he looked further down the cavern, he realized there was a  
type of path.  
  
He looked at the tiny girl in his arms. She   
seemed so delicate in a way. Her golden hair hung in a   
loose ponytail down her back, but her blue eyes were   
filled with determination. He realized that he did not  
even know her name, and he looked down at her to ask it.  
Usagi smiled up at Mamoru, and was very grateful  
that he was down here with her. The Wind could not go so  
far down, and she knew there had to be another escape   
route somewhere. She sensed that Mamoru was about to ask her a   
question, and she looked into his eyes expectantly.  
"I...I'm sorry that this happened, lady." He  
whispered. "I am glad that we are together, though. May  
I introduce myself?"  
Usagi nodded, surprised at his formal attitude,  
but thought that he might be nervous. The Wind knew she was.   
"My name is Mamoru, and I came from this clan  
a time ago. Before the end of it. You are...?" He asked.  
Usagi looked down for a moment. "My name, as I  
remember it, is Usagi. I know I am of the Wind Clan, from  
where I was, and what I can do, but other than that I   
remember nothing of my life. It is like my memory has  
been wiped clean." She paused to clear her throat.   
"I know what happened to my Clan, though, Mamoru.  
By your memories. I apologize if I intruded on your mind  
without your permission. I just got...tangled up in your  
spirit, I guess."  
Mamoru wasn't surprised to realize that this was  
the one who he felt giving him comfort. It made perfect  
sense after all. He brought her into the circle of his   
arms again, letting actions speak louder than words at  
what he felt, and gave his forgiveness. She returned the  
embrace whole-heartedly.  
  
Mamoru looked carefully at the opening at the far  
end of the cave, wondering what was in there and if it  
was safe. His initial thought of this just being a grave  
was wrong; it was a hidden cavern of some sorts, and he  
and Usagi had fallen into it. He looked at Usagi, who  
seemed to agree with him, and they hesitantly stepped  
over the circle of bodies. Nothing happened for a few  
moments, then suddenly a fierce pressure knocked them   
down, and they wondered what it was.   
Usagi recognized it as some sort of protection   
for a Clan, but she wasn't sure what type of Clan lived   
below the Forest. They decided to investigate together,   
both of them crawling on the floor, trying to inch their  
way toward the opening in the cave, hoping to find some  
answers to this, and hoping to get out to some fresh air  
once more.  
  
  
Mamoru had not gone more than a few inches when  
the pressure stopped completely, and he was face to face  
with a pair of shoes. He looked up, quickly standing up  
to face the newcomer. It was a tall female, with dark  
eyes, and a pointed face.  
"Eh, what are *you* doing here?" She demanded.  
Mamoru coughed. "Just trying to get out. We fell into this  
hole, and we would just like to go back up to the surface  
May we do so?"  
The girl smiled. "I don't know...you fell into   
one of the sacred holes, what was once a part of the Circle of Guardians,  
and that means that you are here for the purpose to help us. Come with me, and I can get you and Usagi something to eat."  
Mamoru stopped and looked at the strange girl.  
"How do you know Usagi's name?" He asked. The girl gave  
him a strange look. "The same way I know yours. You are  
Usagi are Leaders of the Slyph Clan. We have been awaiting  
for you to awaken to your heritage for some time now. All  
Leaders are known to us, since their ties go to the Heart  
of the Forest. That is where you are now."  
  
Usagi and Mamoru looked at each other in shock.  
The girl looked slightly amused at their reactions. "I   
am sorry if you were not aware of this. Come to my place  
and I will explain everything to you. By the way, my   
name is Kokoro."  
  
Usagi felt an immense energy stirring around this  
Kokoro person. To Usagi's knowledge, the oldest Clan was the Forest. But it   
seemed like Kokoro was as old as the Forest, maybe even older. She said that they were going to the Heart of the Forest. Where the origins of the Forest began. Usagi began to wonder what was in store for her and Mamoru.  
  
  
Kokoro lead them down a dark passageway, and into  
a deep set cave, set with many homes carved into the   
stone of the caverns walls. Usagi was awed by the   
simplistic beauty, but she longed for the cool breezes  
of the Wind, and to feel the swaying of it around her in  
her treetop home.   
Kokoro turned to them. "This is my home, and the  
home of the other Guardians of the Forest. This is where  
the Spirits of those slain go, or those who have lived out  
their lives to the fullest. They become reborn again as  
Guardians, and are set to protect certain areas of the   
Forest. I have brought you here because I believe that  
you two are the key to solving our problems. Besides   
being the new Leaders of the Forest, I believe that you  
will be the ones to bridge the gap between our lost  
ancestors and the people of the Forest that have been  
torn apart so long ago. You, Usagi and Mamoru, last of  
the Slyph Clan, and Leaders of it, are the Saviors of  
the Forest Clans, and those who lie beyond and below it."  
  
Dum dum dum....Feedback, onegei??!!! 


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